MECHANICAL

VIBRATION

1.VIBRATION

The study of vibration is concerned with oscillatory

motions of the bodies and the forces associated with them.
All bodies possessing mass and elasticity are capable of
vibration. Thus most engineering machines and structure
experience vibration to some degree and their design
generally requires considerations of their oscillatory
behavior. The swaying of a tree in the wind, the pitching and
rolling of a ship at sea, the motion of a simple pendulum are
visible to eyes. The study of these cyclic or periodic motion is
the study of vibration and it is one the most important
aspects of the dynamics.
There are two general classes of vibrations free and
forced. A free vibration occurs with out externally applied
force. Normally free vibration occurs when elastic system is
displaced or given some initial velocity, as might result from
impact. The system in free vibration will vibrate, which are
properties of the dynamics system established by mass and
stiffness.

The vibration that takes place under the excitation of

external force is called force vibration. Forced vibration can
be periodic, non-periodic or random periodic motion simply
repeats itself in regular interval of time. In non-periodic or
random motion there is no such regular interval. Both free
and force vibration can be damped, which is the term used
in the study of vibration to denote a dissipation of energy.
Vibrations are also classified by number of degrees
of freedom of motion. The number of degree of freedom
corresponds to the number of coordinates needed to
completely describe the motion. Vibrating system is
subjected to damping to some degree because energy is
dissipated by friction and other resistance. If the damping is
small it has very little effect on the natural frequency of the
system and mostly natural frequencies are calculated
without considering damping. On other hand damping is of
great important in controlling the amplitude of oscillation at
resonance.

The oscillating system can be characterized as

linear or nonlinear. In linear system the restoring forces are
proportional to displacement, inertial forces are proportional
to acceleration and dissipative force are proportional to the
velocity of motion. If any of these proportionalities are not
satisfied, a vibration is said to be nonlinear. The linearity is
important since the linear equations they can be solved
more easily. Non- linear vibration can be sometime be
linearized by restricting the study of motion to small
oscillations.

1.1 HARMONIC MOTION

Oscillatory motion may repeat itself regularly, as in the

balance wheel of watch or display considerable irregularity,
as in earthquakes. When the motion repeats in equal interval
of time, it is called periodic motion. The repetition time T is
called the period of oscillating and its reciprocal, f=1/ T is
called the frequency.
The simplest form of periodic motion is Harmonics
motion. It can be demonstrated by mass suspended from
light spring as shown in figure (1). If the mass is displaced
from rest position and released, it will oscillate up and down.
By placing a light source on the oscillation mass, its motion
can be recorded on light sensitive filmstrip, which is made to
move past it at constant speed.
The motion recorded by filmstrip can be expressed by
the equation.

Where A is amplitude of oscillation measured from

static equilibrium position of mass and T is time period. The
motion is repeated when t = T. Harmonic motion is often
represented as the projection on a straight line of a point
that is moving on a circle at constant speed as shown in
figure (2). If the line move with angular velocity the
displacement is given as :

The quantity is generally measured in radians per

second, and is referred to as circular frequency. Since the
motion repeat it self in 2 radians, we have the relation.

Where t and f are period and frequency of harmonic

motion usually measured in seconds and cycles per
second. The velocity and acceleration of harmonic motion
can be simply determined by differentiating equation (1)
using the dot notation for the derivates, we obtain.

Thus velocity and acceleration are also harmonic but

lead the displacement by / 2 and radian see
figure 3. Examination of Equation (4) and (5) reveals that :

So that in harmonic motion the acceleration is

proportional to the displacement and directed toward the
origin. Since Newton second law of motion states that the
acceleration is proportional to the force. Harmonic motion
can be expected for systems with linear springs and force
varying as in figure (1) if X is displacement of mass m
from mean position. The restoring force acting on it is given
by:
Where a is acceleration at time t.

1.2. FREE VIBRATION

WITHOUT DAMPING

1.2.1. Force Summation Method

to Find the Natural frequency of
Translatory System:Any system possessing mass and elasticity is
capable to vibrate. The simplest oscillatory system consists
of a mass and spring as shown in figure (4). The system
possesses one degree of freedom as the motion is
described by x coordinate.

The Newton second law is the first basis for examining

the motion of the system, as show in figure (4). Because of
attachment of mass m and action of gravity the spring will
have deflection and the spring force will be K. If the mass
is deflected from its new equilibrium position. The oscillation
will take place at natural frequency f, which is the property
of the system. Applying Newton second Law, and on
summation of forces.

Equation (7) is a homogonous second order

differential equation.
The solution of equation is to substitute an exponential
functions or trigonometric function. For the trial of solution.

The f is the natural frequency in CPS. The K is the

stiffness of the spring or modulus of spring and m is the
mass supported by spring.

1.2.2 Rotational System

In case the oscillation may be in rotational system such as

with torsional pendulum as shown in figure (5)

If the disk is rotated through a small angle about

the axis of the shaft and then released, the moment exerted
upon it by the twisted shaft will set it in motion, and free
rotational vibration will occur. During such vibrations, the
moment exerted on the disk by the twisted shaft will be
proportional to the angle of twist and will always act in a
direction opposite to the rotation of the disk, if J denote the
mass moment of inertia of the disk about the axis of the shaft
its angular acceleration on K the torque per unit angle
of rotation (rotational spring constant, the differential
equation of motion becomes :-

M is moments J is the mass moment of Inertia

and the angular acceleration, all refer to a fixed inertial
axis of rotation.

With equation 12 we determined the natural

frequency can determine the natural frequency of system
undergoing torsional vibration.

1.3 ENERGY METHOD

It is often very simple and direct to use energy method to

solve vibration problems. The Kinetic energy is due to velocity of
mass as the potential energy is in the form of spring energy
stored in the spring as it deflects figure (4). In a conservative
system the total energy is constant and the differential equation
of motion can be established. The energy is conserved in
undamped vibrations. The total energy of a vibrating system
ebbs and flows between Kinetic energy and Potential energy
twice during each single cycle of vibration. The chosen mode
shape is used to form integral expression for maximum Kinetic
energy and maximum potential (strain) energy. The Kinetic
energy is maximum when spring deflection are zero i.e. when
Cos t = 0 in equation (8). The maximum patented energy is
stored when the spring is at maximum excursion, with Cos t = +
1 in equation (8). The total energy of the system is given by:

Consider figure (4), when mass m is displaced from

static equilibrium position. If 1 denote the system energy at
static equilibrium position and 2 at extreme maximum
displaced position and equating the energy.

At position 1 the kinetic energy is maximum and

potential energy is minimum and at extreme position when
velocity is zero the potential energy is maximum and Kinetic
energy is minimum. Equating the maximum energy.

Note the potential energy stored in the spring is due to

work done by the restoring force from equilibrium position to
displaced position. The restoring force is taken as average
from static equilibrium position to maximum displaced
position and back the average force is used such as.

Equation (16) is used to find natural frequency of

free vibration in one degree of freedom system using
energy method. This physical view of vibrations is a
powerful and is the basis of an approximate method of
determining natural frequencies called Rayleighs method.
It is powerful method of analyzing vibrations of mechanism
and linkages. It can also be used for vibration systems
other than beams in bending.
Note :In Equation 15, Sint & Cost are
eliminated, as at the maximum K.E. the value of Cost = 1
and maximum P.E. The value of Sint = 1.

1.4 FREE VIBRATION

WITH DAMPING

Damping is the element, present in all real systems,

which dissipates vibrational energy, usually as heat, and so
attenuates the motion. First, it can arise from the viscous
forces due to shearing in fluids, in which case the damping
force is proportional to velocity. Secondly, it may be
caused by turbulent flows in fluids and the force is then
proportional to velocity squared. Thirdly, it can arise form
friction and the force is then nominally a constant but
always acting to oppose the relative motion. This type of
damping is often called Coulomb damping. Fourthly, its
source can be within materials as a result of hysteresis in
the stress-strain cycle. There can also be a mixture of
these various types. In this work only the first type of
damping, viscous damping, will be considered. This is for
two reasons; first, because it leads most easily analytical
results, and secondly in most cases it is sufficiently
representative of real damping to give accurate results.

Figure 1.4.1

1.4.1 Equation of free

motion

The shock absorber in motor vehicle suspensions is

a typical viscous damping element. It generally consists of
a piston usually has series of small holes in it through
which the fluid is forced when the piston moves relative to
the cylinder as shown in figure 6a. Thus there is resistance
to movement and this force is proportional to the relative
velocity between the ends. The constant of proportionality
c, is called the damping coefficient. The simple system with
damping included is now modeled as in Figure (4) where it
will be seen that the conventional representation of a
viscous damper is a piston in a cylinder.
Summation of Force and Application of Newtons
second law of motion to the mass in Figure (4) when it was
displaced to distance x.

The detailed derivation is given in appendix A. So the

general solution is given by the equation

The three cases of damping previously discussed now

depend on is greater then, less then, or equal to unity.
Furthermore, the differential equation of motion can
now be expressed in times of

This from of the equation for single-DOF systems will

be found helpful in indentifying the natural frequency and the
damping of the systems. We will frequently encounter this
equation in the modal summation for multi-DOF systems.
Shows equation plotted in a complex plane with
along the horizontal axis. If = 0, Eq. reduces to
So that the roots on the imaginary axis correspond to the
undamped case. For 0 1, Eq. can be rewritten as

The roots s1 and s2 are then conjugate complex

points on a circular are converging at the point
. As increases beyond unity, the
roots separate along the horizontal axis and
remain real numbers. With this diagram in mind,
we are now ready to examine the solution given by
Eq.

Oscillatory Motion

Figure 1.4.2

Nonoscillatory motion
As

[ > 1.0 (Overdamped Case).]

exceeds unity. the two roots remain on the real axis of
Fig. 2.6.2 and separate, one increasing and the other
decreasing. The general solution then becomes

Where

and

Figure 1.4.3
The motion is an exponentially decreasing function of time:. as
shown in Fig. 1.4.3 and is referred to as aperiodic.

Critically Damped Motion

[

= 1.0.] For

= I, we obtain a double root,

S1 = S2 = -wn' and the two terms of Eq. (2.6.7) combine to

form a single term. which is lacking in the number of
constants required to satisfy the two initial conditions.
The correct general solution is
which for the initial conditions x(0) and x(0) becomes
This can also be found from Eg. (2.6. I 7) by letting
1. Figure 1.4.4 shows three types of response with
initial displacement x(0).

Figure 1.4.4

1.5 LOGARITHMIC DECREMENT

It is convenient way to determine the amount of
damping present in a system to measure the rate of decay
of oscillation. It is defined as the natural logarithm of the
ratio of any two successive amplitude refer to figure 6a
consider a damped vibration expressed by equation as
under.

Figure 1.5.1

Example 1
A link AB in s mechanism is a rigid bar if uniform
section 0.3 m long. It has a mass of 10 kg, and a
concentrated mass of 7 kg is attached at B. The link is
hinged at A and is supported in a horizontal position by a
spring attached at the mid point of the bar. The stiffness
of the spring is 2 kN/m. Find the frequency f small free
oscillations of the system. The system is as show below.

Example 2
In the system shown in fig. find the period of free
vibration of the body if it is displaced a distance X0 from
the equilibrium position and released, when X0 is greater
then the half clearance a. Each spring has a stiffness k,
and damping is negligible.
Initially the body moves under the action of four
springs so that the equation of motion is

Example 3
A uniform building of
height 2h and mass m has
a rectangular base a x b
which rests on an elastic
soil. The stiffness of the
soil is expressed as the
force per unit area required
to produce unit deflection.
Find the lowest frequency
of free low-amplitude
swaying oscillation of the
building.

The lowest frequency of oscillation about the axis O-O

through the base of the building is when the oscillation
occurs about the shortest side, length a.
I0 is the mass moment of inertia of the building about
axis O-O.
The FBDs are

EXAMPLE 4
The following data are given for a vibrating
system with viscous damping: w = 10 tb, k = 30 tb/in., and
c = 0.12Ib/in./s. Determine the logarithmic decrement and
the ratio of any two successive amplitudes.
Solution
The undamped natural frequency of the
system in radians per second is

The critical damping coefficient Cc and damping factor

are

Figure 1.5.2

The logarithmic decrement. from Eq. (2.7.3), is

The amplitude ratio for any two' consecutive cycles is

EXAMPLE 5
Consider the transverse vibration of a bridge
structure. For the fundamental frequency it can be
considered as a single degree of freedom system. The
bridge is deflected at mid-span (by winching the bridge
down) and suddenly released. After the initial disturbance
the vibration was found to decay exponentially from an
amplitude of 10 mm to 5.8 mm in three cycles with a
frequency of 1.62 Hz. The test was repeated with a vehicle
of mass 40 000 kg at mid-span, and the frequency of free
vibration was measured to be 1.54 Hz.
Find the effective mass, the effective stiffness, and
the damping ratio of the structure.
Let m be the effective mass and k the effective
stiffness. Then

and so = 0.029. (This compares with a value of about 0.002 for cast
iron material. The additional damping originates mainly in the joints of
the structure.) This value of
- confirms the assumption that